I don't think I've ever heard a rational person use the terms "love" and "Fox News" in the same post before. Hahaha.

I'm not sure anyone in any forum has ever called ME "rational" before. And now I'm probably about to lose some of my karma points, but here goes:

Wrestling is a seedy business. And WWE is run by someone who would, if his own grandmother were being beaten and raped by thugs, probably try to get a film crew there so he could use it as his next angle. But it isn't just the business to blame for the rampant steroid abuse, the fault has to lie also with the fans, those of us who have ever watched and been amazed at the comic book superhero physiques pf these guys. (I include myself, as I've been to the shows and before it got so soap-opera like I really enjoyed them.) We bought into the image, and the promoters started telling the younger guys that they had to bulk up to be marketable. Just like with baseball, if the fans weren't so thrilled every time someone like Sosa hits a ball into next week, the game might not have the problems it's had with steroids.

WWE is making me a bit sick with the way they're trying to distance themselves and pretend the business has no fault. If Benoit had already been prone to violence or depression, then the combination of steroids and painkillers would have made that cycle worse. And if he didn't want people to know the son was retarded due to a genetic condition (and jeez that makes me angry, it wasn't the boy's fault and he shouldn't have been a source of shame), then he never would have consulted someone for help with his own problems.

Oh, BTW, I only visit Fox News' site if someone posts a link, I realize all news outlets have their biases, but they really wear theirs on their sleeves.

But it isn't just the business to blame for the rampant steroid abuse, the fault has to lie also with the fans

For my part, I still "blame" the individual. Each of us has free-will. Each makes a conscious decision to take steroids or not. We all know it's wrong and dangerous for various reasons. But money, or fame, or glamour of being famous, or any number of other reasons makes it too easy to put what is right and wrong on the back burner.

Sorry, but if you play with fire, you will more than likely someday get burned. In this case, that burning cost three lives.

Maybe the fans help create the market for sports stars to "bulk up" or whatever, but in the end, each individual makes the decision "hey, I want to be a star more than I want to do what is right and healthy." I know my perspective is probably not the most popular, but I sure would like to see some good old fashioned personal accountability back in play.

Grown-ups have to make hard decisions like that every day. Someday, hopefully, folks like this wil realize that fame and fortune are not worth the cost they ultimately pay. Rather than give my money to this type of guy (by being a fan), I'd rather celebrate the guy in a gym somewhere helping little old ladies with their 30 minute workout - you know, the ones who decided fame was NOT worth selling their soul. We don't know their names, but they have 1000% more honor and respectability than some loser who took drugs to get ahead and stood on the shame of his only son while up there - THEN commited two murders and suicide while his legacy hides under the skirts of "I'm really a victim" in its posthumous pleading for sympathy.

Wow. I never been a fan of wrestling. Always thought it a waste of time(coming from someone who's favorite movie of all time is the BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE,yet!) and space. It's really sad,though,that lotsa kids idolize these meatheads,not realizing it's all just phoney bullsh!t. And when one of their idols does something like this...I dunno... I'm not condeming TV wrestling...you like what you like...I just think this is all very...sad. I'm not gonna even try to guess why he did what he did,because,when it's all said and done,only he knows...and he ain't talking.

No loss of karma points for anyone today Snivelly, but I don't blame you for saying the McMahon is a ruthless money whore who would do anything to gross a few extra dollars. That's exactly the image that's been portrayed of him forever and that's the image he likes to maintain. If Mick Foley's books are to be believed (and since he's been given pretty much free reign to write what he wanted to, I'm apt to do so), McMahon likes to pretend he's the bad guy most of the time, he can be a genuine bastard some of the time, but much of the time he's genuinely concerned for his wrestlers. Whether you can chalk that up to him being a decent human being, looking out for his investments, or just trying to avoid the collateral damage that comes with these people getting hurted, crippled or killed while still using them to make his company flourish and his bank account swell, I don't think McMahon can really be blamed for the steroid abuse in the industry. I think it really can be centralized on the performers themselves who either want to be as big and rediculous as possible for their own ego, or because they're paranoid that they'll lose their jobs if they're not the biggest meathead out there... which, as we've learned, paranoia is linked to steroid abuse, so it isn't a far fetched idea.

Because of the big push against professional sports by the government to crack down on juicers, WWE had been very strict on their drug testing. Benoit was listed as being clean just two months ago. I also know that like any test there are ways that people can cheat and avoid detection, so though I'd like to think that Chris Benoit wasn't on steroids and that the ones found in his home were instead being used in some perverse way to try and fix Daniel's growth disorder, everything is still speculation until the all important toxicology reports come out, no matter how many times the news media try to say "WERE STEROIDS TO BLAME?!" in it's scariest voice possible. The worst part is that if the report comes back positive, I'll be able to admit my theory was wrong, while a negative report will most definitely NOT result in a retraction by any news outlet, because technically they never "said" it was steroid abuse, they just implied (strongly) that it could've been the cause... ignoring the possibility of basic human mental problems and an abuse of painkillers or alcohol because those aren't sensational enough reasons to make it onto the 11 o'clock news.

As far as blaming the fans, the fans are just consumers buying a product. If you look at someone buying a beer and you can go up to them and blame them for every violent act brought about by drunks, then you're more than welcome to blame wrestling fans for steroid use. Though I've been a regular viewer since I was watching the Pay-Per-Views with my grandpa twenty years ago, I've never purchased a single piece of wrestling memorobilia. Any events I've seen, either in an arena or on television was either free or paid for by someone else, so if you can blame the fans for the tragedy that's fine, because my conscience is clear. Again though, the logic's going to vary from person to person based on who you choose to blame: the manufacturers of a product of the buyers of the product. If you don't endorse drunk drivers running over children, stop drinking beer. If you don't endorse people dying of cancer, stop buying tobacco products. If you don't endorse people shooting each other, stop buying guns. If you don't endorse people running each other down, stop driving cars. It's a sticky situation, hence why I agree that individuals should be blamed for their actions.

If it was steroids that drove Benoit to kill his family, he chose to take them. Even if you want to blame the fans or the company for wrestlers taking enhancing drugs, that excuse can't be used on someone like Benoit who has/had an established fan following to whom he could do no wrong before this week. He wasn't a power guy, he wasn't a beefy superhero, his popularity came from his hard work and his ability to put on a technically impressive show. If anything, you could gear the blame for this instead to the painkillers that a guy would probably need to put on such a physical showing 300 days a year.

If it was the stress of his job that drove Benoit to kill his family, he chose to keep such a rigorous schedule. When you're as established in the company like Benoit was, you didn't have to bust your ass because you've already proven your dedication to the company. Look at a guy like the Undertaker who, even when he's not injured, is only required to wrestle two or three times a month if that. It's because the man's an established money generator and WWE will do what it takes to keep him from jumping ship to a rival company like TNA. The same was true for Benoit: he didn't need to bust his ass like he did and he didn't need to put up with all the stress he might've been given, but because wrestling was his life and because he wanted to help mold the next generation of superstars (like he did with MVP and was looking to do with CM Punk), he probably burned himself out doing so.

If it was the problems of raising a handicapped child that drove Benoit to kill his family, he chose to keep Daniel in his life. Some people aren't ready to raise children period, let alone a special needs child. I'm not blaming the child, because that's just stupid and anyone who would turn that around on me is just trying to start some sh!t. Daniel didn't ask to be born with his disease. If the disease was something that the doctors could catch while still in the womb, it was Chris and Nancy's choice not to abort. Even if they couldn't do so for moral or religious reasons, they could have put Daniel up for adoption. In a relationship where the husband's job requires him to be away for 80% of the year, that's no ideal situation for your average child to grow up in, let alone a special needs child. If you're not willing to put your all into raising your kids, you shouldn't be allowed to have them, end of story. Personally I think there needs to be a licensing program to make sure people are worthy to even have children, much like the adoption screening process. Granted, that wouldn't solve all of the world's problems and thinking as such would be ignorant, but I think it would definitely address some very serious ones. Anyway, the point is, if Chris couldn't handle the care needed for Daniel, they could have put the child up for adoption. If Nancy refused, then Chris should've just left. Which brings me to my final point...

If it was pride and fear of social judgment that made Chris Benoit kill his family, well, this is where I have a problem. I think pride and fear of judgment by others is a stupid thing. I wear what I want in public, I shave my beard when I feel like it, I belch, fart and curse when I feel it needs to be done no matter where I am. It's true. Unfortunately, too many people are concerned with what other people think. Celebrities are the worst when it comes to this. Unfortunately, because of the position they're in, where who they are and how people perceive them is their entire livelihood and the slightest normal mistake is guaranteed to be plastered all over tabloid papers and news shows for weeks on end, nobody wants to look like an idiot, a lunatic or a loser in the public eye. Earlier generations of people were told that their business is their own and nobody should know about their shame. This is why so many people look down on psychiatrists and being open with their emotions: because people will judge you and you'll be a freak ripe for ridicule and accusations. Again, the fact that Benoit was a public figure only made this moreso. Personally, I have no problem with seeking psychiatric help, especially if I think life is driving me mad. If I think there's a problem with me, I'll talk anybody's ear off about it, as I've got nothing to hide. Some of the things I think or say make people do a double take and wish such things could be unheard, but it's better than bottling it up and letting it do serious damage later on. Benoit obviously wasn't nearly as free or open about his problem. His son had a crippling disease and he didn't want anyone to know. He likely had personal problems and possibly a severe depressional disorder, but everyone knew him as "mild mannered". It's easy to look upon that and say that he could've easily went out and got his issues fixed, but again, the biggest part of having a problem is admitting it. I have a friend who's an alcoholic, but because he refuses to acknowledge that he has a problem, he'll never seek treatment. With something like that, it's easy to do an intervention, but if it was a problem that was easily kept secret, it's entirely possible that people wouldn't know and therefore nobody could know that the man needed help. I think that's a personality thing and isn't as easily overcome. Anybody can refute that and say it's bullsh!t, but just because you can do something so easily in no way means that everybody else can do it that way too.

Oh, and as far as WWE being too over-the-top and sensationalistic, they've actually toned down things the last few years with the exception of the infamous limo explosion angle. I tried watching "simple, basic wrestling" and realized that I don't like TNA... who currently employ Scott Steiner, the biggest most blatant case of steroid abuse in the world. Sensationalism is what people want. It's a testosterone driven soap opera. Watching people wrestle is obviously the core, but watching grown men in tights doing the same moves over and over week after week doesn't make for good television. Just ask TNA, whose ratings haven't been able to claw their way out of the toilet despite all the big name talent they've wooed the last few years. If all you're looking for is the basic wrestling minus the drama though, go with TNA. Or, if you just want to see your old favorites doing that they did best, MSG broadcasts a show called "Madison Square Garden Classics" every Wednesday night that shows nothing but old matched from the famed venue with all the drama cut out. It's a good show, I record it every week.

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"Don't make me stain my last clean shirt with the back of your head." - Shatter Dead"A grizzly bear with a chainsaw. Now THERE's a killing machine!" - The Simpsons"I've always wanted to make love to an angry welder." - Jaws: the Revenge

I agree that todays "fans" will never except old time wrestling unless they start with a whole new fan base and skip the whole "money" idea...............then they could go back to the old ways.

Maybe this is the end of pro wrestling. The natural decline and end. Much like the gladiator games of Rome the spectators just get bored and they need to invent new ways to kill people.

They still haven't introduced wild animals yet spring up from the floor ....

No, but there was that god awful "Hell in the Cell Kennel" match between Al Snow and Riot Gear Variant Big Boss Man several years ago... which brings up "the Legend of the Penis Suplex"... hahaha

Anyway, I don't see this as being the event that kills professional wrestling. Any actually wrestling fan detractors I'm hearing from in the last week have all been condemning Benoit, not wrestling itself. I'm not sure what event would actually kill wrestling at this point. If there ever comes a time when the fans finally give up on wrestling, it won't be until the entire roster is filled with people who have absolutely no charisma and no wrestling abilities. Basically, a locker room full of Mark Henrys and Great Khalis...

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"Don't make me stain my last clean shirt with the back of your head." - Shatter Dead"A grizzly bear with a chainsaw. Now THERE's a killing machine!" - The Simpsons"I've always wanted to make love to an angry welder." - Jaws: the Revenge

Wrestling should go back to the old ways. In the old days, wrestlers didn't need to be bulging with muscles. Many had pot bellies but could wrestle and compete with the best. Guys like Adrian Adonis, Mad Dog Vachon and Dick Murdoch could wrestle circles around most of today's stars. Get rid of steroids. Get rid of addictions to painkillers. No more ridiculous unbelievable hardcore/garbage wrestling and stupid stunts. Just get back to basics. Creating believable matches between two guys or pairs of guys in a wrestling ring. It worked for Verne Gagne vs. Nick Bockwinkel, it worked for Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jack Brisco, it worked for Bruno Sammartino vs. Ivan Koloff. Lou Thesz lived into his 90s. The Crusher was well up there in years too. Bruno, Mad Dog and Ox Baker are among just some those names still with us today. I'd really love to see both the fans and the media rally against McMahon's "sports entertainment" and demand a return to classic pro wrestling the way it was always meant to be. Not saying there wasn't always a certain element of showmanship but it didn't always dominate things like it does now.

Here's a message from the widow of the late Ray "Hercules" Hernandez who once competed in the WWF as the Mighty Hercules. It speaks volumes IMO:

"My name is Debbie Fernandez, wife of the late Ray “Hercules” Fernandez and I am writing to you because I am sickened by the recent tragic event to strike the Wrestling World. I am also appalled at the fact that Vince McMahon is trying to play off the idea that there is not a Steroid Use problem in the WWE. After Ray died, I was too devastated to open up a discussion regarding the deadly roll that Steroid use plays in the lives of these wrestlers, but now, after seeing yet another tragedy, I must speak up. Vince McMahon acquires these young men, who are eager to join the world of wrestling, and who do not know any better and think that they are going to be rich and famous, but at what price?

He all but preaches that his Wrestlers do not take Steroids, and they are periodically tested, now does anyone really believe that? There is a reason why so many Wrestlers have died at such a young age, partly due to the Steroid use, and most importantly because most of them end their wrestling career with NOTHING! They have no health benefits, they have no retirement, and they are just tossed out like yesterdays trash. The only one who benefits from their blood, sweat and tears is Vince McMahon. They wrestle when their sick or hurt because they are so scared to lose their jobs, and they will, so the only way that they can stay in the game is to take steroids. Does Vince McMahon really expect us to believe that he knows nothing about the wrestlers using steroids?

The problem is that like my husband, many of the wrestlers from that era were too loyal to the profession to say anything, because if you rocked the boat, you knew you were on your way out. They just had to suck it up and do whatever it took to keep their jobs. They control everything you do professionally and personally, right down to picking your accountant, so that he can steal you blind. With all the money that the WWE brings in, you would think that they would take care of their investments and offer them the proper benefits that they and their families deserve. Now, I do not believe that Chris Benoit’s actions were caused by Steroid use, but, I do feel that Vince McMahon should be held accountable for the fact that he IS aware of everything that is going on, and that the majority of Wrestlers do take Steroids. When is it going to be enough? When are these guys going to join together and realize that unless they stand up to McMahon and fight for the benefits that they deserve, and that the WWE can afford to give them, they are headed for an early grave.

As you said though Scott, it is still a matter of personal responsibility. These wrestlers ultimately still make the wrong choice themselves if they take steroids, get themselves addicted to painkillers whathaveyou. That said, I think pro wrestling would be in better shape today if there were more options out there for wrestlers to pursue other than Vince's WWE which is really the only place they'll make the big money.

"People like to see freaks," said the former Lawrence Pfohl. "It's like live cartoon characters."

Not long ago, Luger was 270 pounds of romping manly aggression and animalistic sex appeal. It's what his public wanted and he gave it to them in steroid-fueled, larger-than-life doses as "The Total Package," a man who borrowed his name — sort of — from Superman's arch-enemy.

But the freak show that became Luger's life nearly killed him. The man who made millions, flew in private jets and lived in mansions is now dead broke, sleeps on a used bed and keeps his clothes in neat piles on the floor.

Luger is a pro wrestling casualty, although he considers himself lucky. He recently turned 49, an age many of his friends in the business will never see.

The latest in that growing toll was Chris Benoit, the "Canadian Crippler." The 40-year-old Fayette County resident apparently strangled his wife, choked his 7-year-old son to death and placed Bibles by their bodies before hanging himself by hitching a weight machine's cable to his neck and letting drop 240 pounds.

The Benoit family's tragic end once again exposed the sordid underbelly of professional wrestling.

Luger hadn't seen Benoit in several years but believes his old friend was in a "dark place" due, in part, to the frenetic pressures of the life and many years of drugs he took to build himself up and to keep the pain at bay. Authorities found steroids in Benoit's home and are investigating whether "roid rage," an explosive fit of aggression traced to steroid abuse, had anything to do with the deaths.

Benoit is one of many who have died early.

Keith Pinckard, a medical examiner in Dallas, started logging the deaths of pro wrestlers and ex-wrestlers after his office performed an autopsy on one killed in an accident.

"It seemed bizarre," said Pinckard, "there seemed to be a lot of deaths."

There were. He found nearly 70 who died early going back nearly 20 years. It was a rate at least seven times the rate of the general population, he calculated. The causes of deaths fell in common themes: drug overdoses and heart attacks were most common, followed by suicide and "natural causes."

Vince McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Entertainment, the federation for which Benoit and Luger wrestled, has said the organization has instituted drug testing in response to such allegations of abuse.

"The last test that Chris Benoit took of a random nature was in April which he was totally negative," McMahon said on NBC's "Today" morning program. "That doesn't mean that he wasn't taking prescription medication and perhaps even steroids when this happened. We don't know."

Wrestling's casualties

"Ravishing Rick Rude" died in 1999 after being found unconscious in his Alpharetta home with empty prescription bottles near his bed. The death of the 40-year-old (his legal name was Rood) was ruled a heart attack. He suffered a neck injury years earlier that virtually ended his career.

In "Rude's" obituary, wrestler Curt Hennig, "Mr. Perfect," memorialized his lifelong friend as a performer who gave fans what they wanted.

Four years later, Hennig, 44, was found dead in a hotel, Authorities ruled it cocaine intoxication.

In an obit for Hennig, Atlanta area wrestler Ray "Big Boss Man" Traylor Jr. noted the mounting loss of his closest friends. "It used to be me, him and Rick Rude together," Traylor said. "And then Rick died."

A year later, "Big Boss Man" died of a heart attack.

The pressures on wrestlers to perform night after night grew as the business got more lucrative as federations such as McMahon's WWE went international.

But as wrestling exploded in reach, smaller regional circuits that gave more wrestlers a living dried up.

Atlanta resident Gary Juster, a former wrestling promoter, said the old circuits needed wrestlers, men who added a shtick to their act, but were athletes first and foremost.

Then, about 25 years ago, the sport changed. "The look of a typical wrestler changed," Juster said. "It changed from wrestler to bodybuilder, that chiseled look. There wasn't as much passion for the craft."

As "The Look" became more important, steroids became more popular. "Guys did whatever they had to do to get ahead," Juster said.

The pressure increased as jobs became fewer and more lucrative, said former wrestler Rick Steiner.

"Now there's pay-per-view every week and TV every night. There's the added pressure to look good and there's 100 guys wanting what you have, so a lot of guys take the easy way out," said Steiner, who is a real estate agent and school board member in Cherokee County. "You got to be ready to go every day — and if not, there's a lot of guys ready to step in for you in a heartbeat.

"Some guys sell their souls to be on TV," said Steiner, who came up in the business with Benoit in the mid-1980s.

Steiner said he took "every supplement I could" coming up. "It wasn't a controlled substance then." But Steiner stopped. "The benefits vs. my long-term goals went different ways."

He retired several years ago when his body started aching and he was asked to go back on the road 20 days a month. It was a scary moment. "There's no pension, it's what you save, " he said. "It's over and that's it. Once you are in the limelight and get a taste of the crowd, [some wrestlers] can't let it go. A lot of guys have trouble making that transition."

As is Lex Luger.

Seeking stability

Luger, a Buffalo native, banged around in the Canadian Football League and the United States Football League as an offensive lineman before trying his hand in a Florida wrestling circuit.

Luger still looks good as he sits behind a desk at Western Hills Baptist Church in Kennesaw. His face is tanned and heavily creased, the body lean and his biceps still resemble bowling balls.

But when he gets up to walk, he hobbles like he's 80. He has put in for hip surgery with Social Security.

Luger was as big as they came in the 1990s and rolled through millions of dollars, he said.

Life on the circuit was exciting and exhausting. Some years he was on the road 300 days a year. There were 5 a.m. flights, daytime gym work, shows at night, parties in some hotel or penthouse.

And then repeat again and again.

He needed help to keep up with the pace.

"Steroids were there as a shortcut to get size," he said. And then there's the pain from the never-ending body slams and pile drivers. "You start with a painkiller for bumps and bruises. And then you need more. It's never enough."

Those on the circuit were a family, "a dysfunctional family" he said. Everyone wants a piece of a superstar. "There's a lot of leeches, losers, cruisers and abusers."

"I found no matter how hard you chase it, it's never quite enough," he said. "Money makes you more comfortable being miserable."

Luger's fall was hard and quick. He got divorced and in 2003 he made an early morning call to Cobb County 911 saying his girlfriend, Elizabeth Hulette, known on the wrestling circuit as Miss Elizabeth, had passed out.

She was taken to Kennestone Hospital, where she died. The autopsy showed a mix of alcohol, painkillers and tranquilizers in her system.

He was arrested for possessing three kinds of steroids found in the home. Later, he got a DUI. "My life had fallen apart and I still didn't get it," he said.

A judge sentenced him to probation and revoked it in late 2005 when he went to Canada for a work appearance without court approval. An arrest and two strip searches later, the former Total Package was back in Cobb County Jail.

Luger credits Steve Baskin, the pastor of Western Hills Baptist, with pulling him from a terminal tailspin. The jail chaplain met Luger in early 2006 and sensed the former wrestler was spiritually wounded.

"Here's a guy who would have died or gone to prison," said Baskin. "He didn't have the skills to negotiate through his probation." Baskin said Luger had never learned to think for himself well enough to handle "regular" life experiences.

After Luger was freed, Baskin's friends — Doc Frady, pastor of Clarkdale First Baptist, and his wife, Jan — invited Luger to their home for a birthday party.

Luger learned the couple had been married 54 years and had lived in the same house for much of that time.

Luger lives in a spare bedroom in Baskin's apartment and is trying to figure out a path in life.

He'd like to help counsel those in trouble. Or maybe be a fitness coach. He even said he'd take clients out to the supermarket and show them what to buy. He's eager. He's uncertain. To him, regular life is a new business.

Maybe I'm getting soft as I get older, but I'd like to see the guy actually get a chance at doing something after this. But I have to wonder, why didn't he have a financial adviser or even just someone with more insight to tell him to put some of that money away? These guys do have to realize it won't last forever, it's rare for these guys to work past 40 or so.

When authorities raided the Georgia home of wrestler Chris Benoit last week, they discovered a stockpile of anabolic steroids and prescription drugs, enough to spark the theory that Benoit descended into a violent "roid rage" and, police say, murdered his wife and 7-year-old son and then killed himself.

But in the wake of the lurid events that played out in suburban Atlanta last weekend, the Daily News has learned that another drug may have been part of a deadly cocktail that could have caused Benoit to snap. According to sources familiar with his drug regimen, Benoit was a known abuser of the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate - or GHB, also known as the "date-rape drug." Benoit was known to have used GHB with former wrestler "Gentleman" Chris Adams when both men competed for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late '90s. They used the drug together until Adams' death in 2001, according to sources who knew both men, and friends say Benoit was still using it as recently as two years ago.

"Benoit was a GHB user and he did it with Chris Adams," the source told The News. "The question is, does GHB use play into what happened (in Fayetteville)?"

Authorities are still waiting for toxicology results on Benoit - whose stage name was "The Canadian Crippler" - but would be unable to detect GHB in his system without a complicated test conducted on his hair sample. Still, Benoit's past use of GHB opens up the seamy side of the wrestling world - one filled with hulking men who pile-drive their opponents while scantily clad women parade nearby. Professional wrestling is a "sport" that has long been saddled with accusations of rampant steroid and drug use.

"Everybody in the wrestling business had a liking for GHB back (in the '90s)," says a Benoit family friend. "The whole business was on it." GHB, which increases sexual prowess and boosts energy among other effects, is a Schedule I controlled substance commonly referred to as the "date-rape drug" and is illegal. The Benoit family friend corresponded with Nancy Benoit just weeks before her death but noticed nothing unusual. "She told me, 'I'm driving Chris crazy, but it's a short trip,'" the friend says with a laugh. "I don't think this is a monster acting out. I really don't buy that."

The same cannot be said for the British-born Adams, who was indicted on manslaughter charges after his girlfriend, Linda Kaphengst, died of a GHB-alcohol overdose in April 2000. But before Adams could stand trial, he was involved in a violent scuffle with friend Brent Parnell, before Parnell shot Adams to death with a .38-caliber gun in late 2001 near Dallas. Mickey Grant, a Texas-based filmmaker who recently completed a documentary on Adams, says that "both Chris's (Adams and Benoit) were friends at WCW" and that another wrestler confided to Grant that Benoit and Adams were "G buddies," a reference to GHB's common street name.

Grant, who knew Adams for over two decades, says he never saw the two wrestlers using the drug, but was devastated by Adams' "life gone to hell" as a result of his GHB addiction. "G, in my opinion, is a far worse drug than even crack (cocaine)," says Grant.

In the Benoit case, authorities found Nancy with her feet and wrists bound, and indications are Benoit used a chord to strangle her while applying his knee to her back. Daniel was suffocated. After the murders, Benoit reportedly placed a Bible next to each body and later hung himself using a weight-machine pulley in his workout room.

If Benoit was indeed still using GHB - or if he was trying to kick a habit and suffering from withdrawal - it is likely he would have become violent.

"You see guys that are on (GHB) who go on rages," says Trinka Porrata, a retired Los Angeles police detective who is president of the non-profit Project GHB and who has counseled and detoxed GHB addicts, including several professional wrestlers. "But another possibility, which is more likely, is GHB withdrawal. If (Benoit) tried to stop using it and went into withdrawal, that would explain the bizarre behavior - the text messages, the Bible and the suicide especially. You can suffer a terrible depression coming off this stuff. It's not a quit cold turkey drug."

Porrata adds that it is not uncommon for GHB users to add methamphetamine into the mix, and that meth abuse often contributes to bizarre acts involving religion.

"The question everybody asks is, 'How in the hell could you kill your son?' Well, in a meth psychosis, your son could be the devil. That can happen quite easily," says Porrata.

Benoit composed a bizarre series of text messages to several colleagues during the weekend of his killing spree, including one where he wrote out his full, formal Georgia address. In another, he stated that "the dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open." In a voice mail to a colleague, Benoit said "I love you," which the colleague said was "out of context."

Porrata says that the more severe state of GHB withdrawal - as opposed to addiction - requires at least a 14-day detox period under the care of a physician or health professional. She says the suffering is more intense and debilitating than coming off a heroin addiction. "There's sweating, your blood pressure rises in days one and two," Porrata says. "Then the psychosis starts. Days four, five and six are the worst. You hallucinate and there can often be violence accompanied with it. By day 11, the head starts to clear, but you are left with an intense depression."

The Georgia medical offices of Benoit's personal physician, Dr. Phil Astin, were raided by Drug Enforcement Agency agents Thursday, but the records remain sealed. Astin has stated that he has prescribed testosterone to Benoit, who had low levels attributed to rampant steroid use. Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard and Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Office did not return calls from The News, and it is unclear if authorities were planning to test Benoit for GHB use. Many law enforcement agencies, Porrata says, still fail to administer the test.

Michael Benoit, the wrestler's father, said last week that he hopes toxicology tests will help explain his son's actions.

Says Porrata: "We try to put things in our own terms, 'Well, I couldn't kill my own child.' Yeah, but if you were on GHB or were psychotic, a mental illness or (something) drug-induced, it's not a rational act. It doesn't excuse it, but you can't explain it on your own moral values."